


Stacks

by vix_spes



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-20
Updated: 2012-06-20
Packaged: 2018-05-01 01:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5186612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur's starting to wonder if he still has a boyfriend given how little he's seen Merlin recently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stacks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bluenorth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluenorth/gifts).



Arthur sighed as he walked into the flat that he ostensibly shared with his boyfriend to find the space filled with silence. Looking around he saw no sign that Merlin had been back to the flat all day. Wandering back to the hallway and the little table that held their phone, answer machine and a memo pad he saw that there weren't any notes left and all of the voicemails were from people that weren't Merlin. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he pushed the speed dial for Merlin, he listened to it ring before Merlin's voicemail kicked in. He didn't bother leaving a message. He had evidently lost out to the library where his boyfriend was concerned. Again.

The thing was, Arthur had been fully expecting this having gone through it twice already (when Merlin did his undergrad and then again when he was finishing his masters thesis) but now that he was in the final stages of his phD, things were literally twice as bad. It probably wouldn't be quite as bad if Merlin wasn't insisting on trying to be at least semi-independent and trying to keep a job, albeit a part-time one, whilst completing his phD. But, despite the fact that Arthur had more than enough money for the both of them and was more than happy to pay for everything, Merlin was adamant that he contribute to at least some of the bills. In fact, Arthur had only agreed to Merlin keeping the job because when he tried to make Merlin give it up he had refused to speak to Arthur for three days and withheld sex for a week. Merlin had even gone and slept in the guest bedroom rather than staying in their bed and there was no way in hell that Arthur was doing that again so he had capitulated.

Arthur could never remember working as hard as Merlin did when he was at uni but then even though he had worked hard to get a top degree and proved that he did deserve the position that he held in his fathers company on his own merit rather than nepotism, he had never loved academia and the academic life. Oh sure, he'd loved some of the modules that he had studied but as far as he was concerned, the best things about uni had been his mates, the drinking and the rugby. Although all of that was insignificant compared to the fact that, if it hadn't been for uni then he wouldn't have met Merlin. They had been assigned rooms in the same flat in halls of residence and Arthur had been amazed how Merlin, the complete polar opposite to the rest of them, had fitted in and how they had all been friends. There had been a drunken kiss not too long after Freshers in their kitchen that had resulted in them waking up in the same bed fully clothed with both of them desperately wanting another kiss and thankful that they hadn't drunkenly had sex rather than just a kiss. Lying in the cramped single bed with Merlin's bony elbows digging into his ribs, Arthur had asked Merlin out on a date and that had been that. They had both fallen hard and by the end of the first year, Merlin's room was pretty much obsolete. Even Arthur's father had come to accept that Merlin was there to stay after the first eighteen months. The beauty about their relationship was that even though they loved each other, they accepted that they both had their faults and they could argue like cat and dog. Arthur was certainly never bored with Merlin around. They were somewhat of an unexpected couple but they worked and the proof of that was in the fact that when their anniversary came around in October it would be their eighth. Even Arthur couldn't quite believe that it had been eight years; that was longer than some marriages these days. Then again, Arthur had thought of marrying Merlin or having a civil partnership or whatever it was called. He even had a ring, had had it for six months but the probability of getting an answer out of Merlin was about the same as discovering that the moon was actually made out of cheese. It just wasn't going to happen. He was happy to wait until Merlin had finished his phD so that his full attention could be focused on Arthur. Speaking of which, it would appear that he needed to go and rescue his boyfriend from the library. Arthur had dropped him off on his way to work early in the morning and knowing Merlin he wouldn't have bothered to eat since, too focused on his work to tear himself away.

By the time Arthur made it to the small specialised wing of the library that Merlin practically lived in at the moment it was nearly nine pm. Everybody sane had probably left hours ago, in order to have some semblance of a life but not Merlin. Then again, most sane people refused to work in the wing that Merlin used because the librarian in charge, an elderly man named Geoffrey, tended to freak them out. Not so with Merlin but then his Uncle Gaius was a good friend of Geoffrey's. The man wasn't too enamoured of the students that dared to enter his domain but he appeared to have grown rather fond of Merlin over the years that he'd been visiting and he seemed to tolerate Arthur for Merlin's sake. Even so, Arthur was surprised when, upon his entrance, Geoffrey spoke to him and told him where he would be able to find Merlin, something that Arthur was incredibly grateful for because this place was like a maze and he simply couldn't figure it out. He'd often considered leaving a trail of breadcrumbs or a piece of string so that he could find his way back out again. He found the desk that Merlin had obviously been using fairly easily – the surface covered with books, highlighted photocopies, Merlin's laptop and reams of paper covered in Merlin's virtually indecipherable chicken scratch handwriting. That meant that he was going to have to go and find Merlin and run the risk of getting lost.

He did consider packing up Merlin's desk so that when he finally found his errant boyfriend they could leave immediately but he resisted the urge; Merlin was incredibly pernickity when it came to his research, almost to the point of being obsessive. It drove him crazy if things weren't in exactly the right place and Arthur just didn't have the energy to deal with it tonight. All he wanted was to find Merlin, go home and have dinner then go to bed, maybe have a bath if he could find the energy. Well, he wasn't going to get any of that any time soon if he just stood there staring at Merlin's stuff. He couldn't even call out to make things easier for himself, despite the fact that the only people in the building were Merlin, himself and Geoffrey, because Geoffrey would kill him. Huffing loudly, he started wandering through the stacks in an attempt to find Merlin. It seemed that each time he turned a new corner all he saw were shelves and shelves of books but no sign of Merlin. Finally, when he was starting to wonder if Merlin was actually still in the building, he found a door tucked away in a corner and practically hidden in the apex of two bookcases. Stepping inside, there was a small room with shelves overwhelming with documents and sheafs of paper.

Standing by the window, his hands full of papers and straining to read something by the rapidly failing light – apparently the fact that there was still a working lightbulb in the room had escaped Merlin as he was so engrossed in what he was reading. He was so focused that he didn't notice Arthur walking into the room and jumped like a startled rabbit when arms slid around his waist. It didn't take him more than a few seconds to realise that it was Arthur and relax back into the body behind him, accepting the kiss pressed to his cheek.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?”

Arthur rolled his eyes; eight years of knowing Merlin meant that he now tolerated Merlin's absent-mindedness when he was working with fondness but early in their relationship it had driven him absolutely insane. “I got home from work an hour ago Merlin and I had to stay longer than I was intending to; it's nine pm. The only person here other than us is Geoffrey. It's time to go home. You need sleep and food and so do I.”

That was another bug bear of Arthur's, and a problem that he knew Merlin's mother had, the fact that Merlin would forget to eat and sleep. He certainly didn't need to lose any more weight seeing as he was skinny enough as it is. It wasn't that Arthur didn't love Merlin's body, he loved him regardless, but if Merlin wasn't quite so skinny it would certainly make their bed more comfortable. While he had got used to being woken up in the middle of the night by Merlin's frozen fingers or toes trying to leach warmth from Arthur's body heat or a bony elbow or knee digging into his ribs or thighs, it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world.

“Come on Merlin. Home. Bed.”

“Two minutes. I just need to put these papers back in a suitable arrangement so that I can get back to work first thing in the morning.”

A smile crossed Arthur's face as an idea struck him. “Merlin, what do I have to do to persuade you to stay home tomorrow?” As he spoke, he was pressing kisses to Merlin's neck, smiling to himself as Merlin tilted his neck in a mute plea for more.

Arthur obliged him before trailing kisses across Merlin's jawline and cheeks to his lips, simultaneously turning Merlin by the hips and tugging him in closer. Merlin simply moaned and wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck, still clutching onto the papers for dear life. Reluctantly, Arthur pulled away.

“So? What do I have to do?”

“Keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure you'll think of something.” Merlin teased before moaning as he was pushed back against the cool glass of the window. He offered no protest as Arthur kissed him languidly, responding eagerly despite the fact that he would normally refuse to do anything like this for a very good reason.

“Gentlemen, if you're going to do that, please leave my library. I would have thought that Gaius had taught you better than that Merlin. Getting amorous in the library indeed. Disgraceful.”

The two of them couldn't help but laugh as Geoffrey left grumbling to himself.

“Come on. Home. You've been here long enough and surely you can't be doing your best work when you're tired.”

Arthur knew that Merlin was onto him but he didn't care. Was it a crime to want to spend time with his boyfriend?

“I suppose I could work from home tomorrow.”

Arthur was starting to lose his patience now and he'd never had much of that in the first place when it came to wanting Merlin.

“Merlin, you either pack up your things now and agree to work from home tomorrow,” by which Arthur meant Merlin wouldn't be leaving the bed tomorrow and definitely wouldn't be thinking about his phD, “or I will do a lot more than just kiss you in the stacks. There's this thing that I've always wanted to try in the library … see how quiet you can be so we don't get caught.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you would prefer to comment on LJ, you can do so [here](http://vix-spes.livejournal.com/93011.html)


End file.
